Burnaby Mountie involved in deadly crash given $1,500 fine, not jail

A Burnaby RCMP officer who pleaded guilty to driving without due care in a crash that killed two young men avoided jail and was instead fined $1,500 on Thursday.

Burnaby Const. Petina Kostiuk, 41, crashed into a car at the corner of Kingsway and Royal Oak on Oct. 31, 2007, killing newlywed Albert Haczewski, 27, and his lifelong buddy, Koyo Hara, 26.

Vancouver provincial court Judge Michael Hicks acknowledged the loss of the families and took time to reread parts of their impact victim statements during sentencing, noting the longtime friendship of the two men.

But he called Kostiuk’s lack of attention that night a “momentary lapse,” the consequences of which were tragic.

Kostiuk had changed her plea earlier in the week from not guilty to two counts of dangerous driving causing death to one count of driving without due care and attention, the maximum penalty for which is six months in jail and a $2,000 fine.

Her lawyer had asked for a $1,500 fine and Crown a fine of $1,800 to $2,000.

Hicks acknowledged the sentence “cannot reflect the enormity of the loss” to the families but he said, “a custodial sentence is not appropriate in this case.”

He sited Kostiuk’s previously clean record, “heartfelt and sincere” remorse and her continuing medical problems, which he said could keep her from ever resuming her career, a childhood dream.

Kostiuk, dressed in a black pantsuit and green shirt, showed no emotion as she walked away from court.

But the officer, who hasn’t worked since the crash, delivered a tearful apology as she faced the public gallery before sentencing, addressing it to the victims’ families and friends as well as the emergency personnel and anyone else who witnessed the crash.

“To all of you, I’m deeply sorry,” she said, her voice cracking.

Haczewski’s widow, Paula, said outside she was touched but not satisfied by the officer’s apology and called the fine inadequate.

She said she would have liked to have heard Kostiuk say that she caused the two deaths.

“I did not hear her say that,” she said.

But she said her initial anger at seeing Kostiuk subsided somewhat when she heard the apology and learned Kostiuk was a single mother.

“At times, I felt touched,” said Haczewski. “I felt she was authentically sorry.”

In a victim-impact statement read in court, Haczewski said just 10 months after they married, she found herself alone in a foreign country.

Albert had been the sole breadwinner for them and after his death she was forced to move from a large house to a small apartment in East Vancouver and take out student loans to return to school.

She said she felt as if her life had collapsed and she was “utterly devastated” and has suffered depression and had difficulty coping with her loss and couldn’t work or study.

Albert’s mom, Barbara, in her impact statement said she continues to heavily grieve over the loss of her youngest son, who was working at Telus with a promise of a fulfilling career and looked forward to having children.

“Hatred and ill feelings toward Ms. Kostiuk and the RCMP are useless and help no one, but I can’t help feeling they took part of my life away,” court heard.

Hara’s family did not file statements, but his mother wrote a letter that was quoted in court in which she expressed her sorrow over the loss of the two close friends, who enjoyed life to the fullest and had it suddenly taken away from them.

“I do not want to believe it was their destiny to die that day,” she said.

The two men, whose friendship was so strong they were buried under the same tombstone, were on their way home from a friend’s house, where they had spent the evening playing video games, talking and watching movies after having dinner together.

Kostiuk was on her way to a 911 suicide call involving a pregnant woman whose married partner was returning to China, the same woman she had attended to after an earlier 911 suicide call that evening.

The officer, who had been with the RCMP for six years, had her lights and siren on in the marked cruiser and was travelling between 80 and 89 km/h at impact. Court heard she believed the intersection was clear and there were a number of obstructions at the intersection that made it a “blind corner.”

Haczewski’s 2001 Chevrolet Cavalier was going about 25 km/h five seconds before the crash and accelerated to 51 km/h a second before impact. Both men died within the hour from their injuries.

Court heard the RCMP as the result of the accident has changed their policy regarding travelling through red lights, requiring officers not only to slow down but to stop before entering. And because during a reenactment it was discovered a siren mounted on the cruiser’s grille couldn’t be heard over normal conversation, RCMP now mounts sirens on a bar on the car’s roof.

Haczewski’s widow and parents have filed a civil suit against Kostiuk and the RCMP, alleging there was no reason for her to be driving at a high speed and that the car was mechanically unsound. The statement of claim has yet to be proven in court.

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